In My Hands
by Soyokaze
Summary: The Hero and the Princess face the King... for the second time.


In My Hands

By Soyokaze

_Memories are just where you laid them_

"Link! Stop!" She had screamed at him with all her might, she had reached with her magic, raking out with golden fingers to pull him back. But it was to no avail. Once he had felt Ganon stir, once the Triforce of Power flickered to prominence once more, Zelda had been powerless to stop him. His own Triforce of Courage shone with hatred and strength as he ran into the ruins of Ganon's black castle, darting this way and that, in search of the broken, yet animated corpse of Hyrule's conqueror.

_Drag the waters till the depths give up their dead_

_What did you expect to find_

_Was there something you left behind_

The Princess of Destiny had known it was a trap for him. She had shrieked and run to him, but not in time to save him. Ganon's bloodied body rose from the wreckage, gurgling breaths rising harshly in its throat, and held the scarred Triforce of Power up for both of them to see. She could only look on in horror as the fire closed in around the Hero of Time and the King of Evil, and she had crashed into it as it condensed before her. It stung her eyes and dwarfed what little remaining magic she possessed. She rubbed her eyes, struggling to see again, and calling out to Link, for some sign that he was still alive. She felt his mind weighing on her, suddenly exhausted, and a second later heard his heavy breathing as he struggled to lift the now heavy weight of the Master Sword and shifted his weight from his possibly broken leg. He knew he was trapped. He had given up.

_Don't you remember anything I said when I said_

_Don't fall away_

_And leave me to myself_

"Link! Link, don't let him win! You lived through it once! Kill him again!" He had told her the story of when he had first defeated Ganon, and told her of the horror that had been laid to rest. And how, against his wishes, she had sent him back in time again. She could not, in her right mind, discover why in the world she had done such a foolish, pointless thing. It would result in filling his life with paradoxes, and not to mention other struggles more than unnecessary. It seemed immoral. He had been given back ten lost years, but he had also been cursed through gaining them. And he seemed very nonchalant about the whole circumstance.

_Don't fall away_

_And leave love bleeding in my hands_

_In my hands again_

But now she had no time to ponder her other self's actions and their consequences. Ganon sprang into the air, haloed by bright, silvery-blue light. Zelda, whose eyes still burned with wild magic, saw the Triforce of Power molding in her mind, but Link saw Ganon's skin crawling, deforming within that blue light and turning grotesque. Link hefted the sword in his hands and shivered with the cold chill that traveled up his spine. With the ring of magic fire surrounding him he was wet with perspiration, and the cruel, wintry breeze he felt on his face was that of Ganon's breath. The blinding light was fading, revealing the King's new facade to the Princess and the Hero. It left a creature more hideous than he had seen in all his life. Only he had seen it twice.

_Leave love bleeding in my hands_

_In my hands again_

He ducked as Ganon swiped at his sword, but was not prepared for his other blade-wielding hand. the golden scimitar cut hard into his left side and knocked the Master Sword from his grip. It flew from the battle, in a wide arc, and over the wall of flame.

_Love lies bleeding_

Zelda felt the sword sailing over her, its powerful righteous magic cutting the air just above her, and made a dive for the sword as it hit the ground and went sliding towards the edge of the floating isle. She caught the tip of the blade as it tumbled over the edge. It hissed as the blade sliced through her flesh and her blood, the blood of the Triforce of Wisdom, spilled down on it. She clutched the smooth silver blade with all she had, and though it slipped and almost escaped her several times, she managed to draw the blade back up to her. She gathered it into her arms, and hugged it like a child would a precious toy, as if it would jump from her hands if she slackened even the slightest bit, and the cold feel of it almost brought tears to her eyes. At least they still had the sword.

_Hold me now I feel courageous_

The first change in the story came during Link's battle. Instead of Ganon fighting head on with him, Zelda found herself and her crimson crystal prison falling towards him with terrifying speed. She screamed at him and tried to lift it with her magic, but nothing affected it. He rolled, but his left calf was crushed. Even now she saw him struggling with it, though her vision was still blurred.

_Am I the only place that you've left to go_

He had let the pain affect him only for a second's time, and she saw him spin, on impulse, and lodge the Master Sword in one corner of her casing. With an almost sickening crunch, it had cracked.

Ganon had been momentarily stunned. When Link dislodged his sword and swung it once more, shattering a large hole in the pink crystal, it broke the villain's reverie. Zelda saw him raise his hand and throw a white- hot ball of light at Link's back. The Hero of Time was unaware, and was hacking away at the pink prism, so she grabbed him and hauled him inside with her, the impact of them slamming against the inside back of the cell causing it to fall back onto the floor. Ganon's fireball, which struck the bottom of the prison harmlessly, was foiled by his own invention. As she held him inside it, Link cast Din's fire, bursting the remaining crystal into shards of light and sound, and they had run.

The pain from Link's leg strained on him as they ran. They dove for the wide open gate-like entrance to Ganon's personal torture chamber, but Ganon slammed shut all the doors before they could leave the chamber. Zelda remembered that she had fallen to the ground with him, and together they laid there, while Ganon looked down at Link with hungry eyes.

Ganon had paid no attention to her. She was no threat to him.

_She cries her life is like_

Link's breathing heaved. She had seen that when he had entered the battle ground he was already bloodied and fatigued, and now with only one leg to stand on. She had clutched to him as she now clutched the Master Sword, and cried. It was the first time she had wept in ten years. The last time had been when her father died at Ganon's hand. All of her help, all of the Triforce's protection, all of his own striving could not save the Hero from the King's hand.

_Some movie black and white_

While she wept, Ganon had approached them and reached down for him. His eyes were filled with disgusting longing, and she knew he wanted nothing more then to reach down and snap Link's neck with his bare hands, and in that moment, he believed he could. In that same moment, Link had, with lightning speed, drawn his bow, and all in a fluid motion, he drew an arrow, pulled back, and fired with deadly accuracy and velocity. Ganon shrieked and reared back in pain, a glowing yellow arrow protruding from his eye. He writhed and tugged at it, occasionally feeling around for them or swatting in their direction. After a moment of frantically trying to remove it, he simply fell dead.

_Dead actors faking lines_

Their breathing echoed in the hall for a few moments. When Zelda looked down at him, he gave her a weak smile. Ironically, this made her cry harder, though she returned the smile the best she could.

They had little time to celebrate, as the walls collapsed outwards and fell from the room around them. The floor rumbled ominously underneath them. Zelda had half dragged, half carried Link to the edge of the rubble, and with none of the previous account's long corridors or barred doorways, she threw them both over the edge, slowing their descent with magic. Link slid his arms around her waist as they fell, and they landed clinging to each other.

The black castle collapsed in front of them. Link looked distrustfully at the silent pile of ruined rubble, as if he was searching for something. She felt the third part of the Triforce flicker and change, and suddenly Link wrenched out of her embrace and ran out to the middle of the pile, limping terribly.

_Over and over and over again she cries_

_Don't fall away_

And so she had ended up laying on the ground, the Master Sword at her breast. She turned to look over to Link, who was spitting up blood at Ganon's feet, a huge gash in his side. She cringed as she realized that she could do nothing for him now, except to be ready with the sword when the telltale flicker of Ganon's magic field came.

_And leave me to myself_

_Don't fall away_

She let one hand off the sword and stood up, walking to the very edge of the field. She was crying again, but not entirely aware of it. With one gloved hand, she reached up to touch the field. There had to be some sort of weakness, something she could penetrate, but her magic reserves were so depleted, and she felt so weak that she only succeeded in burning her fingers. It scorched the entire fingers of her white glove off. She could pass none of her magic through it.

_And leave love bleeding in my hands_

_in my hands again_

_Leave love bleeding in my hands _

_in my hands_

_Love lies bleeding_

Link had stood up, and, with his damaged leg and bleeding side, was dodging the best he could. She saw he was heading straight for Ganon's dragon- like tail, not bothering with the other, more heavily armored parts of his body. A strange, larger sword was in his hands. She had no idea where he had pulled it from, but Link had many more surprises than she cared to count.

Ganon had picked up on his strategy and was obviously keeping his tail out of striking distance. Zelda remembered the stunt Link told her he used to beat Ganon last time, and wondered why he wasn't using it now. She reached out to him again, seeking to remind him of it, but found him so fatigued and worn that she could only repeat the words to him, like a mantra.

_And I wanted _

_You turned away_

_Come on Link, just wait for it..._

Link hopped weakly to the side as Ganon swung at him again, and then reared to back to prepare for another strike.

_NOW!_ She screamed to him, willing his body to obey, and he managed to roll between the monster's legs. A surge of new adrenaline rushed through him as he realized the value of the opportunity, and he rose the large sword and cut Ganon's tail off cleanly. Ganon shrieked and wailed inhumanly, falling to the ground with green ichor oozing from a gaping hole at the base of his spine.

_You don't remember_

_But I do_

Link shook his head and sprinted for where Zelda lay clutching the sword. After a moment to realize what had happened, Zelda rose to her knees and threw the sword with all the might she had. Link caught it with a spring that told her he was on the brink of treating his newly favored circumstances in the battle as a child would treat winning a game of marbles. She would have smiled at his split-second mood change, but as Ganon began to rise and Link rushed back to him, she jumped to her feet and stilled Ganon's movements with the golden fingers of her last bit of magic reserves. Link took a flying leap at Ganon's wriggling body and cut cleanly down the center of his face. The leathery flesh bloomed in a strange inner layer, covered in putridly green ichor, bearing the features of Ganon's humanoid face. It shrieked in unison with the outer monster, and as Zelda's binding spell ran low, it writhed and sent its large gold scythes spinning in all directions, hoping to get in a last, vengeful kill. Link, just raising his sword from the ground, narrowly missed one of these desperate attempts by a faulty backward flip. Zelda fell to the ground, her magic dangerously low, and sent a weak message to Rauru.

_Do it, Rauru._

No sooner had she thought this then a blinding spectrum display of colors and light surrounded Ganon in a cocoon of power and elements. The sounds and sights overwhelmed all three Triforce carriers, and Courage and Wisdom felt each other fall to the ground. The Sage's power tangibly wrapped around Ganon, forming a paper thin layer of liquid crystal, under which Ganon's form shrank and struggled, and then finally disappeared.

_You never even tried_

As darkness ascended again, Zelda looked towards the middle of the floating island. The Hero of Time lay there, blood soaking him, and the Master Sword still gripped within his fingers. Zelda called to him, and he did not move. She tried to stand up, and stumbled, but still managed to take a few steps toward him.

And then she felt the ground rumble beneath her unsteady feet.

_Don't fall away_

The edges of Ganon's stronghold were crumbling and hissing in the lava below. The whole island wobbled on the absence of the dark magic that had held it in place.

_Leave me to myself_

_Don't fall away_

"Link! LINK!" Zelda screamed again, tripping on numb feet, trying desperately to get him to move. The exhausted, half-dead hero would not respond to her. Frantic, and relying on a slim margin of power, she ran to him, faltering and falling as the land around them disintegrated. When she finally reached him, she took him and held him tightly in her arms, and did the only thing she could think of. The rest of the platform faded around them, pieces of it falling to the lava, others flying through the air in a tornado of collapsing magic. All through the calamity, they held on to each other as lifelines, and closed their eyes, not watching the scene.

_Leave love bleeding in my hands_

_in my hands again_

When the last piece of the island had fallen and melted in the hot lava below, the sun cried out of the clouds and lent a tint of gold to the blackened, torn land of Hyrule. Ganon's evil domain burned out, and revealed the beauty of hope for Hyrule once more.

And amidst all of this, to figures are laying in each others' arms. Floating about in a blue crystal of her magic, they are covered in his blood, and holding each other like their only wish was for human contact, for comfort. Both he and she are unconscious and exhausted. Yet both he and she are smiling.

_Love lies bleeding_


End file.
